Final Stages
by Irish Maverick
Summary: As Kingdom Hearts nears completion and Sora advances on the Castle That Never Was, the four Organization XIII members remaining spend some time with their thoughts.


Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or Disney, or a house, just this laptop... good enough

Xemnas gave a satisfied sigh to himself as he spread his arms and bathed in the glow emitting from Kingdom Hearts above him, opening his eyes he actually smiled at the sight of more and more hearts flocking towards it, each one adding it's power to the moon, power soon to be his...

After years of planning, years of setbacks, years of pain, soon he would join with it, and be granted the status and powers of a God. If he'd had a heart it would have leapt with joy at the thought. The true goal, as he called it, had taken all of his skill and knowledge to conceal from the others, if they had known, then he would never have held their loyalty this long.

He heard a commotion from the streets of the Dark City, loud enough to carry all the way up to him up on the Alter of Naught, he chuckled to himself, so the heroes of light w_ere_ here...

"No matter" he whispered still staring up at Kingdom Hearts. "It is already too late."

Nothing would stand in his way now, _nothing_, he had waited too long to let anything, or anyone, stop this. He smiled to himself as he remembered how it had all began...

Several years it had been since Ansem the Wise had found him, sick, amnesiac and week on the edge of the Radient Garden, for a long time he had served under the man with the other apprentices as they conducted experiments on everything and anything they could, to try and help the people of that World. They had made so many breakthroughs together, like their discovery of the darkness that lingers in the heart. Then Ansem, the old fool, had begun to worry about his people, he couldn't risk letting the darkness consume them, he didn't understand the power that could have come from those who could find a balance between the light and darkness and control both, but _he _understood it, and began to convince the others of what it could mean.

While Ansem toiled away day and night trying to remove the darkness, he and his comrades began to experiment on ways to tap into it, their test subjects would become the original Heartless, failed experiments devoid of anything but the urge to devour the hearts of the living, every failure was banished to the depths of the World whilst he and the others continued to try and find ways of unlocking the powers of the darkness. Ansem's constant objections proved a tiresome interference, and it was with great pleasure he had sent the old fool to the Realm of Darkness to be consumed allowing him and the other apprentices to conduct their experiments with new freedom.

Then the day the breakthrough came, he himself found the way to control the darkness, he could travel through pockets of darkness, bend it to obey his will, he hadn't realised the cost it had come with until later, when the others had all followed his lead and allowed themselves to be consumed by it, despite their newfound control of their hearts themselves had been lost, taking with them all feelings and emotions that they possessed. The after effects of their experiments had destroyed the Radient Garden, leaving it, and any World the Heartless reached uninhabitable. The years that had followed were hard as he and the apprentices had travelled, lost between Worlds until they had arrived here, the World That Never Was, a Nobody just like them, it was here that they all began working towards returning their hearts, to regain their emotions and life to bring the balance between light and darkness they had originally sought.

It was then he had discovered about Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all Worlds, if such an entity could be created it could lead them to their own lost hearts, making them whole, _alive_ again, but whilst researching it he discovered something far greater. To unite with Kingdom Hearts could provide him with power, unlimited power, he could become almost Godlike, revealing his discovery, but omitting the final parts of it, to the others, began their quest, theirs to regain their hearts and his to attain all the power of all the hearts in the universe.

It was then he'd discovered the problem, attaining the hearts required a mythical weapon known as the Keyblade, something he and the other apprentices did not possess, other members were recruited, their Worlds ravaged and destroyed leaving only those with will strong enough to exist without a heart remaining, these new members added to the growing ranks of his followers, then it happened, the newest Keyblade wielder, Sora, who's actions were already providing the hearts needed, lost his heart creating Roxas, and the Organization, as the group was now known, had it's own Keyblade wielder, Sora was soon out of the way, and Roxas collected almost all the hearts needed.

That brought him to now, when the major setbacks had begun, they had survived a treacherous attempt by two members to use Sora to overthrow them, resulting in the disapearance of three of his original comrades, he hadn't cared much for their loss, they were like Ansem, weak minded, not seeing the true power that could be theirs. They had survived Roxas' defection, which in turn brought about Sora's return, whilst he had still attained the hearts more members had fallen, more nessessary deaths for his goal, now only three remained besides himself.

Xigbar, the only surviving apprentice other than himself.

Saix, his second in command, almost fanatically loyal to getting his heart back, how little he knew.

Luxord, how he'd lasted as long was anyones guess, maybe there was something to his talk of 'luck' and 'fate'.

Xemnas opened his eyes again, the Keyblade Master and his allies would soon be in the Castle, attempting to reach him, the other three would fall, he didn't doubt that, the boy was too powerfull now, but he, he would _not_, he would unite with Kingdom Hearts, he would use his new power to erase all opposition, and he would mould the universe in his image.

... and it would be magnificent.

* * *

Xigbar paced the aptly named Hall of Empty Melodies, his footsteps echoing throughout the large room, the only sound now that Demyx, who had often used this room to play that instrument of his, had faded.

Xigbar frowned to himself, the Keyblade kid was coming, he knew it, he'd known as soon as Saix had brought that girl back here that Sora would eventually find his way here, that was the thing about having a heart, you would go through hell and back for the things closest to it. The kid would not stop until he had cut his way through everything and saved the girl, and that included Xigbar himself.

He was no fool, Braig, his somebody, had been, that had resulted in the scars that decorated his face and the patch that covered what was once his right eye, Braig had been arrogant, impulsive and foolhardy, ironically all things he still portrayed to hide his true emotionless entity. It was Braig's foolishness that had led him to listen to Xehanort and abandon his heart to the darkness in pursuit of power. Now look at him, an emotionless shell, clinging on to the belief that once this Kingdom Hearts would soon be ready and return him his heart, one thing was for sure, once he was whole again he would never make the same mistakes Braig had.

He certainly would never follow Xemnas, no _Xehanort_, again, the only reason he hadn't summoned his Arrowguns and put one in that idiots head was the knowledge that he would have no idea how to use Kingdom Hearts once it was ready, that said there was nothing stopping him once he did get his heart back. It wasn't that he hated the Superior, more that the fact that the Nobody was plainly out for himself and himself alone after all his talk of comradeship just stank, he had coldly shrugged off the deaths of Vexen, Lexaeus and Zexion, people who when they were whole had been as close to friends that Braig had known, had started his doubt. His callous sending of Demyx, who despite their lack of feeling had managed to appear afraid of his own shadow, on a suicide mission, had solidified it.

And yet here he was, in the Hall of Empty Melodies serving as the first line of defense for the final stages of the plan, maybe he was as foolish as Braig after all, that said, he was smart enough to know that despite all his taunts Sora was a tough cookie, and would run through him just as he'd done to Demyx and Xaldin, another longtime comrade he'd never see again. Stopping his pacing he turned to the entrance of the hall and smirked in spite of himself.

If Xigbar was going down, he was going down fighting, and hopefully last long enough to see Xehanort get his just desserts...

* * *

"Are you happy now?" Saix whispered to the pannel before him. "Was it all worth it in the end... Lea?"

The red pannel, now more ominously like a gravestone than ever, remained silent, as though mocking him, Saix glared at it, what had possessed Axel? Sacrificing everything they had planned, everything they had worked for, for some fake emotional attachment? They couldn't feel, Axel knew this, so why had he formed this attachment with Roxas? And why had he pretended to feel right up until the end? When they had first joined he had accepted the knowledge, what had changed him?

He had been chasing Axel through the Worlds for weeks, yet had never asked why the other Nobody had acted the way he did, abandoning the Organization, kidnapping that girl, attempting to turn Sora into a Heartless to revive Roxas, why go through everything for a friendship he must have know was fake?

"You fool" he snarled at the pannel. "We were so close, but you had to be so _weak_, you couldn't bear not having a heart even if it meant waiting a bit longer! All this for a fake friendship? Roxas was gone and yet you still gave your existance for him? Why?"

Still he couldn't understand, when he was Lea he had always been impulsive, yet had prided his friendship with others above all else, Isa was much the same, then they'd joined the Organization together and formed a plan, they would take control, and get their hearts back and go back to how things were, all they had to endure was a little while as emotionless beings, then Kingdom Hearts would be ready and the two would have hearts again, things would be normal, he had handled it, why couldn't Axel?

"Roxas..." The boy had caused all this, he had seen it from the beggining, Axel's unwillingness to eliminate Zexion to raise himself through the ranks even though they had planned it out long beforehand, the more Axel had spent time with him the more he had changed, strangely he had begun to return how he'd been when he was Lea, if slightly more arrogant, the boy's defection had destroyed Axel, and led to what had happened, and now he was gone.

With a clatter the Claymore in his hand cut through Axel's pannel, smashing it to pieces, Saix turned and walked away towards his own to await Sora, and by association Roxas', arrival, and once they were there the Keyblade wielder and his Nobody would pay for the destruction of his plans, his goals, and his friendship...

* * *

Luxord frowned as he dealt the five cards out on the table in front of him, reaching forward he turned over the first card, ten of hearts.

"Ironic" he chuckled glancing out the window at Kindom Hearts, the game was almost over, soon he would have his heart back... or be remembered with a red pannel in the proof of existance, he didn't know how Xemnas was intending to go through with their union with Kingdon Hearts without Sora interrupting, he turned over another, Jack of hearts.

"If only the whispers from the top of the ladder carried to the bottom rung" he'd said that the day Xion was revealed as a replica, a puppet, it seemed it was always him who was last to know _anything_ in this Organization, it was because he was unintelligent, Xemnas just failed to see the need to inform him, even Demyx had heard things before he had it seemed, and his throne was one of the lowest in the group. Queen of hearts.

"Well, this is interesting" yet despite the apparent lack of faith in him here he was, one of four Nobodies left standing, all the others had fallen by the wayside, victims of the game, except the losses in this were far more devastating. King of hearts.

"My lucky day perhaps?" He muttered hopefully, he was certainly going to need it, should Sora break through Xigbar's defenses it would be down to him and Saix to protect Xemnas and Kingdom Hearts from the boy, not a prospect he was looking forward to, picking up the final card he stared at the back of it with a slight smirk.

"Ace of hearts I survive, and our plan succeeds, anything else, we fail" he started to turn the card around but stopped and laughed aloud to himself. "You know, I think I'll leave it up to fate..."

As he vanished into darkness he tossed the card to the table, unseen by anyone it fluttered down to the surface revealing the eight of clubs...

* * *

**Well, there it is, a fic that's been stuck in my head for aaaaaaages, hope you enjoy it.**


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